Today is the last class in your current four class set. Our listening is a Story Corps story. I only want you to listen once. I have included a transcript.
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LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Time now for StoryCorps. And today, a different kind of love story.
SOPHIA LANSKY: My name is Sophia Lansky. We're in Manhattan, New York.
NEIL KRAMER: My name is Neil Kramer. My interview partner is my ex-wife.
FADEL: Sophia and Neil have been divorced for almost a decade. But after Sophia's roof collapsed in late 2019, she reached out to Neil and asked if she could stay with him for a couple of weeks. During that time, Neil's mother also came to stay. Then COVID hit.
LANSKY: How did you feel to have your ex-wife and mother staying with you in your apartment?
KRAMER: Most of our fights revolved around the lack of space. We only had two bedrooms, so I spent a lot of time in the bathtub, just hanging out there.
LANSKY: You said I can have the bedroom, and you will be sleeping in the living room.
KRAMER: I thought it was going to be for, like, a month, not for, like, two years. But we almost became dependent on each other for survival. There have been moments when things were going on in the news when I would come in there at, like, 3 in the morning, and we just would hug and watch with each other. The No. 1 question my friends had - what's going on with you and Sophia? Are you together? Are you getting remarried? I mean, we're not getting married again, are we, right? (Laughter) I'm not proposing to you at the moment.
LANSKY: No, we're not.
KRAMER: I think we are, in a way, opposites. Some of that became a little problematic in our marriage but didn't interrupt our friendship.
LANSKY: I actually don't see you as a friend. I totally see you as my family, just not my husband.
KRAMER: And I'm assuming that eventually, you're going to feel comfortable moving.
LANSKY: Yes, probably.
KRAMER: And then what happens to this relationship?
LANSKY: We're stuck with each other. I always felt that you will always be somewhere in my orbit. If I win a lottery, I will share the money with you. If you were ever to get sick, I would not abandon you.
KRAMER: I mean, when we go our separate ways, what will you take away from this experience?
LANSKY: It was a lot of bad experiences and a lot of love. It was like life. And I think I'll take away how kind you are. That's what I loved about you in the first place.
KRAMER: I think what was so unique about the last almost two years was there was really no one else. It was like - even though we lived in, you know, New York City, a city of how many millions?
LANSKY: For the last two years, New York was a city of population three people. And I wouldn't want to go through this experience without you.
FADEL: Those are exes Sophia Lansky and Neil Kramer for StoryCorps in New York City. They continue to live together as roommates. Their conversation is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.